http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-11076-GDC-2012--Mega-Man-Creator-Lambasts-Stagnant-Japanese-Games-Industry--.html

Three years ago, Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune spectacularly announced that the Japanese games industry was "over." At GDC 2012 yesterday he stuck the knife in even further.

Speaking through a translator in his "The Future of Japanese Games" talk, the renowned ex-Capcom developer said that the problem came from Japanese developers taking the easy route, running series into the ground instead of taking risks and experimenting.

"Japanese games are becoming a blast from the past," he said, asserting that Japan now merely trades on its past. The Beatles were great!" he continued, "Steve McQueen was a great actor," but just like those classic performers, Japanese games are now merely "great, great memories."

"I feel like we rarely see new creations from Japan anymore," he said. "We just stick to our memories and we re-release HD versions of games. That is the upper limit of what we are showing to our users today and that is not what our users want."

Throughout the talk Inafune repeatedly called for Japanese developers to take the hard route in making games, in an effort to create new experiences. "I want to light a fire under Japan before it is too late," he said